Here’s a thought along these lines:
I don’t necessarily agree with a fully gated release, however, the sooner players get an alpha or beta, the better (presuming it’s generally around the quality of the demo, which was very good, IMO). This is with the understanding that the product would not yet be polished, and that as with all testing, nothing is permanent. Any progress made would be for the sole purpose of testing.
How do I think this would help appease players? Well, aside from getting more feedback overall to improve final release, it also allows a lot of us to do what we’ve been sorely itching to do for months: Actually test which classes we want to main in Classic.
I say this as a Vanilla veteran. I played three classes to 60 in Vanilla (mage, rogue, and warrior), and lowbie alted the rest. That having been said, I still am not entirely sure what class I’m going to spend most of my Classic time on. The demo was a great start on that process, but I’d really love to be able to test 1-20 or so more thoroughly before deciding.
I guess what I’m really itching for isn’t so dissimilar to what the OP is suggesting: A limited and perhaps even level-capped testing period, both to help with bugs and feedback, but also to help players prep for the actual release.
Leveling a character and getting geared-up is a real time commitment, and while folks can go out and watch YouTube guides all day long, it’s not the same as actually fiddling with a character at low levels to determine what feels best for the individual. (Yes, I realize that how a class feels at 20 is different from raiding at 60, but at least it’s a start.)
Anyway, just an additional thought!
I really appreciate all the work that the devs are doing to make this finally happen. This isn’t just serving veteran nostalgia, it’s also about preserving a major piece of gaming history in its near-original state.
P.S.
I’m not trying to start any new terminology trend with using both Classic and Vanilla terms, but I’ve personally found it more natural to use Vanilla to refer to the original game period and Classic to refer to the new version. Makes sense to me!